Society has seen an evolution of technology in a wide variety of industries, including the toy industry. This evolution in technology is quite apparent in several sectors of the toy industry. For example, technological enhancements have made video games more realistic and lifelike than anyone could have imagined ten years ago. Technological enhancements have also affected other sectors of the toy industry in more subtle ways. For example, board games now come with video displays on a regular basis, baseballs can measure their own velocities when thrown, and dolls can now speak, walk, and even roller skate. Many of these product enhancements have been driven by customer demand. As technology continues to improve, customers want toys that have more capabilities or that are more realistic.
One example of customer driven evolutions in the industry is found in the toys embodied as creatures, animals, dolls and various other life forms real or imagined. Dolls, despite their simplicity, have long been among the most popular toys, especially among younger children. Dolls, however, are not immune to customer demands. As such, customers have continually demanded a more lifelike doll. Therefore, dolls have become more realistic as technologies applicable in the doll industry have evolved. As alluded to earlier, dolls now have enhanced movement and speaking capabilities that tend to make the doll seem more realistic and lifelike.
One important influence technological advancements have on the doll industry is seen in the development of dolls' eyes, which have evolved quite dramatically. Some of the more recent developments in doll eyes relate to making the eyes and/or eyelids movable such that the doll is more realistic. Dolls with movable lids are well known for facilitating enhanced interaction with the doll. The movable lid action typically provides for two eye states such that the eyes are open (i.e., the doll is awake) or closed (i.e., the doll is asleep). Often the movable lid action is dependent on the orientation of the doll such that when the doll is lying down (i.e., sleeping) the eyes are closed, whereas when the doll is in position different from the lying position, for example, standing or sitting, the eyes are open. Although such movable eyes/lids provide for enhanced realism, the doll is far from being truly realistic or interactive and leaves much to the user's imagination.
To provide a more realistic and interactive doll, a cost-technology trade-off becomes important. As is known, new technologies cannot typically be implemented to meet customer demands because of other constraints placed on the industry by customers. One of the most important constraints is cost. Therefore, even though technologies may exist to meet customer demands, those technologies cannot be applied to this industry until they have adapted in such a way as to be more cost effective. To this end, the toy industry has employed relatively inexpensive motors and linkage assemblies to provide realistic animatronic-type dolls. However, although such dolls may provide realistic movements of the head and limbs, the eyes may remain static or even employ the aforementioned orientation-based movable eye/lid mechanisms.
Recent attempts to increase the realism of dolls' eyes have focused on adding additional structure around the eye such as eyelids and eyelashes. One improved artificial eye is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application entitled “Method and Apparatus for Attaching Plush to an Artificial Eye”, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/300,084 for “Artificial Eye With Integrally Molded Eyelid” filed on Nov. 20, 2002 by Applicants' Assignee. The disclosed artificial eye with an integral lid is realistic and well suited for use with life-like creatures and dolls. To further accent its realism, the eye includes a plush engaging member that is operative to animate a portion of plush contiguous to the eye, which may correspond to an eyebrow, upper eyelid, or the like.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists for a drive mechanism to coordinate the animation of a doll's eyes and other body parts such that the doll provides life-like, organic movements facilitating realistic interaction with a user.